The Harness Files: part 3

Competition harnesses are developed for maximum performance – but does that sacrifice safety or user-friendliness? 

You can find part two of this series here

At the Paragliding World Cup Superfinal in 2021, the Ozone team surprised many by flying with a radically new harness: a fully inflated closed cocoon, dubbed the Submarine. The shape, Ozone claimed, reduced drag by about 7% resulting in a 17cm/s improvement on descent rate at full speed over Ozone’s previous high-end competition harness, the Exoceat. 

This performance gain attracted a lot of attention and the harness was quickly adopted by competition pilots everywhere. This year at the recent European championships in Spain more than half of the pilots flew with this harness, or Gin’s submarine-type harness the Genie Race 5 with its similar performance.

Race harnesses, whether submarine or traditional race pod, need to provide stable flight in thermic conditions while flying a competition glider. They must offer high performance, lots of storage space and be comfortable to sit in for many hours. They are all well thought-out harnesses which we’d expect to be safe. However, there is room for improvement, says BHPA executive council member and SRS competition organiser Brett Janaway.

FAI regulations require the presence of two reserve parachutes and a valid EN or LTF certification. These...